Urgent Action Needed to Protect Negev Airbases, Warns Security Report
A stark emergency report released Friday warns that strategic air force bases and facilities in Israel's Negev desert are under a "real threat" of paralysis, potentially neutralizing the Israeli military's aerial attack capabilities. The report, authored by the Ripman Institute for Negev Development with input from former senior security officials, highlights that sensitive operational assets, including Nevatim Airbase (home to F-35s and heavy transport aircraft), Hatzerim Airbase, Tze'elim, and Ramat Hovav facilities, are surrounded by civilian areas where a "lack of governance," as previously noted by the State Comptroller, poses a worsening strategic problem.
Key contributors to the report include Ilan Lavi, former head of the Shin Bet's southern region, and Brig. Gen. (res.) Attila Fars, former head of the Civil Administration. The report details a severe proliferation of illegal weapons in the Negev, estimated by police at around 130,000 firearms and munitions, many stolen from IDF bases. Rental prices for illegal weapons are high, with an M-16 rifle costing approximately 500 shekels per day. The report also points to the Negev as a "backyard for Iranian terror," citing numerous espionage cases in 2025-2026 where Israelis were recruited by Iranian intelligence to photograph strategic bases, including Nevatim. One notable case involved a teacher from a Bedouin community near Nevatim who was allegedly tasked with documenting fighter jet activity.
The report further documents a significant increase in shooting incidents near Nevatim, with one instance causing damage to an aircraft wing from stray fire. Drone incursions into bases are identified as a new technological threat with serious strategic implications. Compounding these issues are critical staffing shortages at police stations in the region and a lack of high-level government attention to the governance problem, with a ministerial committee on Negev development not having convened for two years.
The authors outline a plausible scenario where multi-arena tensions could exploit violent protests and road blockades to cut off bases from ground reinforcements. Simultaneously, armed cells could use the proximity to base perimeters to conduct precise firing and deploy explosive drones against parked aircraft, all while facing a missile barrage from Iran. The ultimate goal of such a scenario would be to neutralize the air force's operational capacity during a critical conflict and severely damage national deterrence.
Recommendations include declaring an "Envelope of Nevatim", a statutory national security zone around key bases with heightened enforcement, appointing a coordinating government official with authority and budget to bridge gaps between military, police, Shin Bet, and government ministries, and closing "dead zones" by completing technological barriers, regaining full control of firing zones, establishing dedicated drone defense systems, and securing Negev transportation routes. The report also calls for legislative changes, strengthening enforcement in the southern district, and demanding full IDF transparency regarding arms leakage from its bases.